In 1139 St. Malachy went to Rome to give an account of the affairs of his diocese to the pope, Innocent II. While at Rome, he received (according to the Abbé Cucherat) the strange vision of the future wherein was unfolded before his mind the long list of illustrious pontiffs who were to rule the Church until the end of time.
These short prophetical announcements, in number 112, indicate some noticeable trait of all future popes from Celestine II, who was elected in the year 1130, until the end of the world. They are enunciated under mystical titles. Those who have undertaken to interpret and explain these symbolical prophecies have succeeded in discovering some trait, allusion, point, or similitude in their application to the individual popes, either as to their country, their name, their coat of arms or insignia, their birth-place, their talent or learning, the title of their cardinalate, the dignities which they held etc. For example, the prophecy concerning Urban VIII is Lilium et Rosa (the lily and the rose); he was a native of Florence and on the arms of Florence figured a fleur-de-lis; he had three bees emblazoned on his escutcheon, and the bees gather honey from the lilies and roses. Again, the name accords often with some remarkable and rare circumstance in the pope's career; thus Peregrinus apostolicus (pilgrim pope), which designates Pius VI, appears to be verified by his journey when pope into Germany, by his long career as pope, and by his expatriation from Rome at the end of his pontificate. Those who have lived and followed the course of events in an intelligent manner during the pontificates of Pius IX, Leo XIII, and Pius X cannot fail to be impressed with the titles given to each by the prophecies of St. Malachy and their wonderful appropriateness: Crux de Cruce (Cross from a Cross) Pius IX; Lumen in cælo (Light in the Sky) Leo XIII; Ignis ardens (Burning Fire) Pius X. There is something more than coincidence in the designations given to these three popes so many hundred years before their time. We need not have recourse either to the family names, armorial bearings or cardinalatial titles, to see the fitness of their designations as given in the prophecies. The afflictions and crosses of Pius IX were more than fell to the lot of his predecessors; and the more aggravating of these crosses were brought on by the House of Savoy whose emblem was a cross. Leo XIII was a veritable luminary of the papacy. The present pope is truly a burning fire of zeal for the restoration of all things to Christ.
The last of these prophecies concerns the end of the world and is as follows: "In the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church there will reign Peter the Roman, who will feed his flock amid many tribulations, after which the seven-hilled city will be destroyed and the dreadful Judge will judge the people. The End."
What do you think?

Cochrane

15-08-09, 06:39

I've heard about this before and feel sceptic. Those phrases are rather unspecific and each could fit nearly any pope.

Let's take the example of Urban VIII. His prophecy is Lily and Roses. The Lily works reasonably well with Florence, but it was and still is a very frequent symbol for coats of arms. The roses, though, do not fit at all. They collect honey from anything, there is no special "Rose" connection in there at all.

Similar things can be said for all the others. Going to Germany and leaving Rome is not a true pilgrimage in the christian sense (someone who visited Jerusalem would have fit much better). The opposite of "Burning Fire", in the sense of christian imager where burning fire meanings zealous, would be "Lazy Pope", and there were not a lot of that.

Predictions like these generally don't work. They are so unspecific that you can find a connection every time if you really want to, and the human brain is wired so that it loves finding such connections. Nostradamus is similar. As long as we work that way, though, it is essentially impossible to prove these predictions wrong. That makes them useless in a scientific way.